The present invention relates to a radar display suitable for use in an air traffic control system.
Air traffic control radars generally employ a display of the plan position indicator (PPI) type, which shows a plan view of a circular area with the radar antenna at the center. The plan position of an aircraft is shown on the display by a blip, often tagged with computer-generated alphanumeric information indicating, for example, the aircraft's altitude. The display may also show backscatter (referred to as radar clutter) from terrain, weather, birds, and other objects, and superimposed information such as runway patterns.
A disadvantage of this type of display is that, since the operator has only a two-dimensional plan view of the area scanned by the radar, he or she cannot easily discern three-dimensional relationships. In particular, even though altitude may be indicated as tag information, it is difficult to see the altitude relationships between different aircraft at a glance, and nearly impossible to visualize the three-dimensional relationships among aircraft, terrain, and general radar clutter.